The poll found Cuomo’s job approval rating dropped from 74 percent to 59 percent, and his approval standing among Republican voters dropped from 68-18 in January to 44-43. The gun control measure is seen as one tangible example of Cuomo tacking to the political left, possibly ahead of a presidential bid in 2016, in the new agenda and rhetoric he outlined in his State of the State presentation on Jan. 9. (Cuomo has denied any change in course.)

“With approval ratings that consistently topped 70 percent, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo had the political capital to spend when he set out to pass the toughest gun control laws in the nation,” said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. “It is possible that the gun law cost him some of that political capital, but a 2-1 job approval rating still makes him the envy of most governors.”

This survey, which covered 1,127 voters and has a 2.9-percent margin of error, did not ask directly about the most controversial elements of the gun control: an expanded definition of banned assault weapons. A poll earlier this month by the Siena Research Institute found support for that measure by a majority of voters surveyed.

“The issue is about a 70-30 issue. 70 percent of the people of the state saying they wanted gun control, et cetera,” Cuomo said . “Within the 30, there’s a group that feels very strongly about it. You’ve been making their case quite eloquently for a number of days. They tend to be [from] Upstate. They tend to be conservative. … I know their opposition. I know they’re going to be displeased. I would expect that you’re going to see that in the poll.”